The operating table was slick with blood, and pools of crimson spread like a macabre tapestry. A cold, gnawing dread coiled in Ethan's gut, sharp and suffocating, as the interns' hushed words echoed in his mind. Who the hell was lying here? A name flashed through his thoughts, only to be crushed instantly. No, just a damned coincidence. He snatched his phone and jammed his thumb against the assistant's contact. "Track Serena's whereabouts. Now." Because there was no reason for me to be in this hospital. Sure, he had promised Mia that he would turn me into a live model for those med students, but the order had never left his lips. Those were just empty words to shut her whining. I was still his, and a man like him would break the hands of anyone who dared touch me. Yet those interns'

